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Malaysia: Weddings and
worries
By Anil Netto
PENANG,
Malaysia - It was Malaysia's wedding of the year. A
who's who of Malaysian society mingled with foreign
diplomats from a string of countries. The only problem
was that the father of the bride was the country's most
well-known prisoner.
Nurul Izzah Anwar, 23, the
eldest daughter of jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar
Ibrahim, married chemical engineer Raja Ahmad Shahrir
Iskandar, 26, a distant relative of the royal family in
southern Johor state, last Friday. Nurul, a spirited
political campaigner in her own right, was thrust into
the limelight along with her mother Wan Azizah Wan
Ismail during the heyday of the reformasi
movement unleashed upon Anwar's ouster in 1998.
A final-year student in electrical and
electronics engineering in university, Nurul met her
partner, then a student in the United Kingdom, while she
was on a speaking tour in London four years ago.
Until the last few hours before the wedding
ceremony, uncertainty prevailed as to whether Anwar, who
had from April 14 begun serving his second jail term -
this time for nine years - would be allowed to give the
bride away.
If anyone had any doubts as to
whether the ruling elites still regard Anwar as a
threat, the manner of the prisoner's arrival at his
residence in Kuala Lumpur's leafy Bukit Damansara area
should have dispelled them. A convoy of police vehicles
and dozens of security officials escorted Anwar to his
home on Friday afternoon for the traditional Muslim
ceremony, prompting one commentator to quip that the
jailed politician had as many bodyguards as his onetime
mentor, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Hundreds of
reformasi supporters and journalists jostled to
get closer to Anwar, who was wearing a neck brace.
Earlier that morning, he had appeared in court
to seek bail pending the outcome of his sodomy
conviction.
The wedding reception the next day,
attended by prominent opposition leaders, business
tycoons, and reformasi stalwarts, was no ordinary
affair. Significantly, diplomats including those from
Norway, Kuwait, Ireland, Singapore and the United
States, as well as the chief presidential advisor in the
Philippines, were also present. A few politicians from
Mahathir's United Malays National Organization (UMNO),
including a cabinet minister, made heads turn.
Not to be outdone, Mahathir himself addressed a
crowd of 40,000 UMNO supporters on Sunday night at the
Merdeka (Independence) Stadium to mark the party's 57th
anniversary. The premier returned to a familiar theme:
pointing to a foreign threat and the need for Muslims to
remain united to ward off potential colonizers.
He pointed out that when Iraq was threatened,
many Muslims conducted hajat prayers but Iraq was
still invaded. "Does this mean that God did not hear our
prayers?" he asked. He said Muslims should ask
themselves what they done to change their fate. "The
answer is nothing. Muslims are still backward in defense
matters. Muslims are divided. We are enemies with each
other."
The threat of colonization was even
greater today, said Mahathir, noting that although
Malaysia was not yet a target, Western powers had
"already criticized us for not being democratic, not
protecting human rights and not having press freedom".
His rallying call for Muslims to be united may
be seen in the context of a divided local Muslim
community, many of whom were disturbed by the treatment
meted out to Anwar, a former Islamic youth leader.
Even as Anwar was allowed a brief taste of
freedom, a couple of his supporters detained under the
Internal Security Act (ISA) were allegedly assaulted
last Friday at the infamous Kamunting Detention Camp a
couple of hours' drive north of Kuala Lumpur. The
Abolish ISA Movement (GMI), comprising more than 80
non-governmental organizations, has sent a memorandum to
the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia urging the body
to probe the incident.
Activists said they had
received reports alleging that independent film producer
Hishamuddin Rais and Keadilan activist Tian Chua had
been assaulted by security personnel at the camp last
Friday after a series of grievances and arguments at the
camp boiled over. The duo were allegedly assaulted by
some 30 security personnel in anti-riot gear who had
raided Tian Chua's room to seize a computer.
GMI
chairperson Zaid Kamaruddin said Kamunting officials had
repeatedly ignored Tian Chua's request to bring a laptop
computer to his room to facilitate his doctoral thesis
work.
The camp commandant has denied the assault
allegation, stating that the inspection of the dormitory
was a "routine block search".
Tian Chua and
Hishamuddin are among half a dozen prominent
reformasi activists still under ISA detention.
Their two-year detention orders expire next month, but
there is concern that their detention may be further
extended. The ISA review board has already recommended
their release, which the Federal Court last year
described as having been made in bad faith - but so far
to no avail.
Meanwhile, a senior official of
Gerakan, a component party in the ruling coalition, has
openly backed the country's human rights commission's
call for the repeal of the ISA. Toh Kin Woon, a state
executive councilor in the northern state of Penang,
raised eyebrows when he endorsed an anti-ISA memorandum
in his personal capacity, pointing out that there were
other laws that could protect national security.
The heightened edginess over Anwar and the
reformasi activists - along with the recent
brouhaha over a series of mildly critical articles on
Malaysia in Britain's Economist magazine - reflects
UMNO's insecurity about life after Mahathir. The
uncertain succession scenario, analysts say, could lead
to factional struggles. It also reflects concern that
the Malay ground is still divided and that this could be
aggravated if the economy remains listless, as is likely
to be the case.
Mahathir has once again
maintained that he is stepping down in October. Analysts
and observers are speculating that the next general
election could be held as early as the end of this year
or the first half of next year - ahead of the UMNO party
elections in the middle of next year. The nervousness
and tetchiness displayed in recent days and the rallying
calls for "Muslim unity" can be expected to continue.
(©2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights
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